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Cruz (Ricardo)/Catolicos por La Raza papers
CEMA 28
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections
Title: Ricardo Cruz/Catolicos por La Raza papers
Creator:
Cruz, Richard, -1993
Creator:
Cruz, Rosa Martinez
source:
Cruz, Camilo (Artist)
Identifier/Call Number: CEMA 28
Physical Description:
47.5 Linear Feet;
(32 cartons, 8 doc boxes, 10 half-doc boxes, 1 flat box, and 2 film reels)
Date (inclusive): 1967-1993
Abstract: Papers of Ricardo Cruz, former Chicano rights attorney active in Los Angeles, California during the Chicano Movement era,
and a founding member of Católicos por La Raza.
Physical Location: Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library
Language of Material:
English.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Camilo Cruz on November 12, 1998 and December 3, 2021.
Some files in this collection may contain restricted materials. Please contact the Department of Special Research Collections
in advance to request access.
Property rights to the collection and physical objects belong to the Regents of the University of California acting through
the Department of Special Research Collections at the UCSB Library. All applicable literary rights, including copyright to
the collection and physical objects, are protected under Chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code and may be retained by the
creator and the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns.
All requests to reproduce, quote from, or otherwise reuse collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Department
of Special Research Collections at UCSB at special@ucsb.edu. Consent is given on behalf of the Regents of the University
of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB as the owner of the physical items and
is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright
owner, heir(s), or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or their assignees for permission to publish where the UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
The collection is arranged by topic into five series:
- Series 1: Personal biographical
- Series 2: Rosa Martínez Cruz
- Series 3: Political activity
- Series 4: Legal files
- Series 5: Subject files
Richard (Ricardo) Vincent Cruz (July 1, 1943 – July 21, 1993) was a Chicano rights attorney during the Chicano Movement era.
He is most well-known for his advocacy on behalf of the Latino poor people of the Los Angeles area. Cruz was a law school
student at the time he founded the controversial organization known as Catolicos por la Raza. Through this organization, he
led demonstrations against the Catholic Church for its neglect of the Latino community. He is also know for his successful
legal battle against Los Angeles County's forced sterilization of undocumented workers, and for his successful defense of
a young Latino wrongly convicted of murder.
Cruz was born in 1943 and raised in Los Angeles. After graduating from California State University-Los Angeles in 1967, Cruz
attended Loyola Marymount University School of Law. While a law intern with the California Rural Legal Assistance in Santa
Barbara, Cruz helped to organize farm workers in Salinas.
Cruz received the Juris-Doctor degree from Loyola Marymount School of Law in 1971. His attempts to practice law, however,
were short-circuited by the California State Bar's refusal to certify him. The State Bar claimed that his "moral corruption,"
in disrupting a religious sermon, was inappropriate. With the support from The American Civil Liberties Union and others,
Cruz was eventually admitted to the Bar.
Later, in 1982, Cruz fought and won the dismissal of charges against a young Latino named Gordon Castillo Hall, an adolescent
who was falsely convicted for the murder of a Duarte postman who was shot in 1978. Cruz died in 1993, following an unsuccessful
battle with lung cancer.
The collection contains materials related to the Cruz's work as a Los Angeles based attorney and activist. Materials may include
correspondence files, legal documents, transcripts, photographs, audio recordings, news clippings, reference materials, and
other ephemera.
Also included are materials related to Rosa Martínez Cruz's work in the Chicano Movement, and includes newsletters and publications
from community and mutual aid groups.
[Identification of Item], Ricardo Cruz/Catolicos por La Raza papers, CEMA 28. Department of Special Collections, UC Santa
Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Lawyers -- California
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Trials, litigation, etc
Mexican Americans -- Economic conditions
Mexican Americans -- Social conditions
Mexican Americans -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- California -- Los Angeles -- History -- 20th century
Mexican Americans -- California -- Los Angeles -- Politics and government -- 20th century
Mexican Americans -- Civil rights -- California -- Los Angeles -- History -- 20th century
Cruz, Camilo (Artist)